GEOG 203: EXAM 1
100 Cards in this Set
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Name the 4 Eons
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Hadean, Archean,Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic
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Name the 3 Eras
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Palezoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
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What amount of time does the Hadean Eon cover?
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4.56 to 4 Ba
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What amount of time does the Archean Eon cover?
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4 Ba to 2.5 Ba
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What amount of time does the Proterozoic Eon cover?
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2.5 Ba to 542 Ma
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What amount of time does the Phanerozoic Eon cover?
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542 Ma to Present
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What is the order of the geologic time scale? (G to L)
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Eon, Eras, Period, Epoch, Age
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What is Superposition?
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rocks are deposited horizontally new rocks settle upon them
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What is Lateral Continuity
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beds form horizontally, not continuous now, but were at some point
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What is Faunal Succession?
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Once a species goes extinct, it does not come back, fossils are key to relative dating
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What is unconformity?
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Represents gaps in the geologic record; periods of times that are not represented by rocks.
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What does cross cutting imply?
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The intrusion is younger than the bed cut.
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What is the Coriolis effect?
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...
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When did life begin?
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3.8 Billion years ago
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What is the important event that marks the difference between Precambrian/Cambrian?
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Life explosion on earth
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What is the anthropocene?
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unofficial geological time, in which human activity has an impact in earth's processes. (1700s- Industrial Rev.) or (10 thousand years ago)
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How many extinctions has there been on earth?
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5
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How does Newton's Law of universal gravitation have to do with the discovery of earth's internal structure?
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Calculated the density of the earth; the core was more dense than the upper level.
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What are the 5 main layers of the Earth?
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Inner Core, Outer Core, Lower Mantle, Upper Mantle, Crust
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What is the lithosphere?
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Upper Mantle, and the Crust
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What happens in the lithosphere?
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Plate tectonics move
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Which plate is more dense?
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Oceanic
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Which plates are older?
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Continental
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What is the isostatic rebound?
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The plasticity of continental crust, when weight is added, it causes mantle to sink.
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What are the three techniques that allow the study of earth's internal structure?
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Seismic Waves, Boreholes, Kimberlite
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Where does earth's internal heat come from?
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Primordial heat from when earth, radioactive decay, crystallization of iron.
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At what rate does the heat flow to the surface?
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0.08 w/m^2
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What does the first law of thermodynamics state?
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Heat goes from hot to cold to find equilibrium
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In what 3 ways does heat transfer?
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Radiation, conduction and convection
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How does energy transfer in the core?
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Conduction
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How does energy transfer in the mantle?
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Convection
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How does energy transfer in the crust?
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Conduction
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How does energy transfer from the mantle to the crust?
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Plate Tectonics
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What are the 3 types of plates?
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Converging, diverging, transform
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What is a mid-ocean ridge?
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Mountain chain underwater where crust is created underwater.
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What is Seafloor Spreading?
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where mid-ocean ridge pushes crust across floor toward subdued plate where it melts.
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What is a hydrothermal vent and what does it cause?
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Cracks in the fresh sea floor, water seeps in and explodes back up with dissolved minerals causing black smoke.
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What is Chemosynthesis?
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use of chemical compounds by deep sea micro-organisms that is turned into energy.
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What is the IODP?
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Internacional Ocean Discovery Program
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What is Paleomagnetism?
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When mineral grains align with the direction of the magnetic pole.
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What is geomagnetic reversals?
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When the poles reverse.
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What is radiogenic dating used for?
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dating rocks by their chemical compounds.
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What is a daughter product?
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The product of a chemical when it is fully decayed?
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What are the five types of volcanoes?
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Mid-Ocean ridges, Continental and Oceanic Arch, Island archs, Rifts, Hotspots
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What is a rift?
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Divergent palte boundaries in continental plates that can potentially create basins for oceans.
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What is a hotspot?
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When a heat plume heats up the crust underneath the plate.
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What is the life cycle of a hotspot?
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When lava erupts underwater, it creates an island, it then moves away from the hot spot, erosion declined, then it rejuvenates( 1 more volcanic eruption), it erodes away and goes underwater (atolls)
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What is uniformitarianism?
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"the key to the present is the past", principle that proposes that the physical processes that are still active in earth's environment have been operating throughout earth's history.
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What is an earthquake?
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vibrations of earth's surface, following the release of energy in the crust - they happen because the rocks in earth's crust collect energy and then break.
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What is the epicenter?
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Location on center of CRUST where earthquakes are first felt
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What is the focus?
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Point were energy is released
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What is the focal depth?
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the depth of the focal point to the surface
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What does the Richter scale measure?
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The magnitude of an earthquake
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What does the Mercalli scale measure?
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The intensity of an earthquake; it can vary depending on distance.
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What steps cause a tsunami?
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The onset (earthquake), then split, the amplification and the run up
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What factors control the intensity of a tsunami?
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The earthquakes magnitude, the faultier the trench, tsunami beaming and ocean depth
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What is liquefaction?
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phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking.
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What is the earth's temperature in Kelvin and in celsius?
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288K and 15C
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Where does the energy that keeps our planet warm come from?
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radioactive decay, primordial heat, iron crystallization( 1%) and radiation from the sun (99%)
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What affects the solar constant?
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Distance and Luminosity
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What is incoming radiant energy?
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Solar energy that hits the planet (at different angles)
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What is albedo?
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How much of the solar energy that hits earth surface is elected back into space.
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How do you calculate the greenhouse effect?
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Atmospheric temp. + GHG increment= Surface temperature
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What are the main greenhouse gases?
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Ozone, carbon, water vapor, methane, oxygen and pollution
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Where does heat go?
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to where it is cold until it finds equilibrium
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What is the Coriolis effect?
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apparent deflection of moving objects when the motion is described relative to a rotating reference frame. EX. Earth's equator moves slower than the poles.
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What is the Hadley cell and where are they located?
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Where air rises at the equator (towards the pole), located at 30 degrees, affected by the trade winds.
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What is a polar cell and where are they located?
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Where air rises at 60 degrees north and south, affected by the polar easterlies
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What is a jet stream and where do they occur?
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form when 2 air masses with different characteristics meet; subtropical jet happens at 30 degrees, polar jet happens at 60 degrees) affected by the westerlies.
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Low pressure causes?
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precipitation
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High pressure causes?
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Dry climate
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What is the ITCZ?
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Where the 2 Hadley Cells converge- located on thermal equator.
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What is a monsoon?
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seasonal wind that brings rain
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Where do summer monsoons cause precipitation?
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On land
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Where do winter monsoons cause precipitation
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on water
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What is the thermocline?
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transition between surface and deep water
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What is the halocline?
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relationship between salinity and density.
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Which type of ocean water is the most dense?
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Salty Cold water.
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Why is the NADW important?Why is the NADW important?
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Carries water almost all the way to antartica
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What does the Gulf stream do?
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it carries warm water from the equator to the poles. If circulation slows, hurricanes form, and winters are more harsh in the poles
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What is the AABW?
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coldest and saltiest water( lowermost)... salty due to proximity to the ice (which takes out the salt)
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What is important about the 8.2 Ka event?
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major cooling event
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What are gyres?
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a surface current that is circular, and is driven by surface winds. (go clockwise in N, and counterclockwise in the S)
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What is the Ekman Transport?
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When surface water transports 45 degrees away from the wind.
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What is a tropical cyclone?
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strongest storm possible on earth, it is an effective way to move hot spots in ocean to cold.
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What is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?
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Their location, hurricanes occur in the atlantic and typhoons occur in the pacific
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Where do tropical cyclones begin?
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In the subtropical zone
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What is the center of the cyclone called and what is a characteristic of it?
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Eye; low pressure
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How does a hurricane develop?
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Disturbance (two air masses meet;they converge), Depression (low pressure attracts wind, creates cyclone and condensation), Hurricane (strong winds and precipitation).
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What way does the cyclone spin in the northern hemisphere?
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counter clockwise
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Is global warming affecting hurricanes?
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Affects the intensity of them, however does not affect the amount there are.
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What is a sun spot?
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Concentrated part that em radiation
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What is a faculae?
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the bright spot around the hotspot.
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How long does a sunspot repeat their pattern?
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11 years.
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What are the 3 Malankovitch cycles?
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eccentricity,obliquity, and precession
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What is eccentricity?
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The earth's orbit
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Difference between aphelion and perihelion?
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A= afar P= pretty close
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What is obliquity?
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Tilt (23.5 degrees)
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What is precession?
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Spin
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What is orogenesis?
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The formation of mountains by the deformation of earth's crust
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Geog 203 Study Guide